


Waiting

by Karios



Category: Laverne & Shirley (TV)
Genre: Angst and Romance, Character Study, Couch Cuddles, F/M, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:49:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27700946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karios/pseuds/Karios
Summary: Carmine knows he's not the leading man in Shirley's love story.
Relationships: Shirley Feeney/Carmine Ragusa
Comments: 6
Kudos: 5





	Waiting

**Author's Note:**

> Vaguely inspired by one of Missy's Shipoween prompts and a rewatch of s07e10 aka where Shirley and Carmine nearly get married. This is set much earlier than that episode though, I was picturing sometime s3.
> 
> Many thnks to gaialux for betaing!

Shirley and Carmine are alone in the apartment and curled up together on the couch. Although that sounds intimate, like it could lead somewhere, the rest of the mood is all wrong. Carmine has wanted to be in show business long enough to know that love stories take place in the floral-scented breezy days of spring or the sun-soaked steamy nights of summer. They definitely do not take place on a dreary, grey-skied November evening where the rain falls in sheets.

They are sharing popcorn, the real stove top kind with individual kernels, not any of that new stuff in the expanding foil. Shirley doesn't burn them. Carmine’s mind has been collecting little things like that, stretching backward ever since he lent her his jacket for the first time and she didn't let it get dirty.

He used to think these were things he'd tell their children someday. Answers to _Daddy, why'd you fall in love with Mommy_? Because children aren't impressed by answers like: _her determination makes me feel like I can conquer the world_ or _her bravery inspires me_. They want stories about borrowed jackets, and unburnt popcorn, and animal rescues.

Except none of those stories really matter because Carmine knows better now. There's not going to be _their children_ , and not for the obvious reason. He shakes off this particularly morose thought and tries to pull his attention back to the movie the two of them are supposedly watching. It's not romantic in the least; a whodunit of some kind and he gives up on trying to figure out anything else about it when he realizes he would rather look at Shirley.

Shirley's messy bob flattened on one side where her head's been lying on his chest, Shirley's worn flannel pajamas that he's seen before, Shirley's face half-lit and half-shadowed by the glow of the television. This isn't how people dress in a love story. He wishes he was in something sexier than sweats.

But the biggest reason this isn't a love story has nothing to do with the time of year or the weather or what's on tv or their wardrobe. It's that Carmine already knows he's the wrong guy. He knows he is the romantic equivalent of on a callback sheet in case the director's real choice turns the part down, an understudy's understudy. Because see, the thing is, Shirley has a dream. And while he doesn't really get what's so special about marrying some rich doctor or whatever, he supposes she wants to know she'll be okay. He knows that she grew up full of uncertainty; too alone and sometimes hungry.

Some guy who isn't him is out there right now waiting to fall in love with Shirley. Some guy who will give Shirley all the fine things and fancy parties and the surge of pride Carmine can't. Some guy whose children will grow up with a top of the line education, and wear clothes from stores with price tags that would make Carmine choke, and who will never eat off a menu that offers two-for-one. Carmine can't blame Shirley for wanting to do better.

And Carmine knows what it's like to have something you want with all of your heart, to look toward your future and be sure of what you see in it. Carmine only wishes his dreams had gotten him closer to Shirley's a little faster.

So when Shirley does notice him staring, turns to look back at him, her face adorably scrunched in confusion, and asks, "you're awfully quiet; what's on your mind tonight?" He wonders what she might do if he were to slip off the couch, get down on one knee, and ask her to marry him. But he already knows all the promises he cannot make, so he doesn't.

He also doesn't tell her how much it will hurt to let her go, not just tonight, but one day, forever. He doesn't confess that even though she's right here in his arms, he can already feel her slipping away.

Carmine just whispers, "I love you," and leans over to capture her mouth against his own. Runs his tongue along her lips to initiate the sort of searing kiss that matches the urgency in his mind and in his heart.  
Only something in it must convey the desire he's felt for her always because she pulls back saying, "I love you too, but Carmine." His name is a censure, a warning, a plea.

"I know we're waiting," he says softly. Carmine's never minded that. He only hopes she'll wait for him.


End file.
